Tuesday, 27 September 2016

Adaptive Cruise Control on Golf 7

Adaptive Cruise Control ACC on Golf VII 7

The ACC is a very useful feature on the VW car and my experience on the Passat have spurred me to acquire this feature on the Golf 7. A "Must Have" in my opinion.

My quest for this comes with a price. It is not as simple to install as it was on the Passat B6/7.

Volkswagen have made it very much more difficult for folks like myself to do retrofitting by adding the Component Protection feature on the ACC controller. It can only be activated online via VASPC or ODIS. Best of all, it cannot be activated unless you have this feature on your original car......meaning to say it is impossible to retrofit because mine did not come original from factory to allow me to enable it. However, my European gurus have a way around it. They are are genius working there.

To install the radar, it is not as simple as hiding it behind the emblem now. We have to replace the whole bumper guard behind the front bumper moulding with an original part number which comes with a proper retainer to hold the radar.

Top is original without holder. Lower is replacement with holder

Radar is installed on the bumper bar

The radar sensor mounted

The radar is part of the front lane assist camera and connected via a pair of CAN wire

A new lower radiator grille is also needed to be fitted. Problem is....they all come with chrome trimming. As such, all the lower trims have to be replaced with matching trims. The lower side trims, fog light trims and the special ACC center lower trims.

Front Radar fitted with new lower grille

Radar Mounted

New, the steering wheel. The original steering of the base Golf VII does not have anything. Don't even dream about paddle shifters for the DSG. Only radio control and MFD control buttons....still better than the Trend Line 1.2 model. That only have a horn button ! That model is a church mouse edition.

R Steering with ACC

The ACC requires a special steering wheel with the built in ACC control button which is different from the normal Cruise Control feature.

Special ACC Steering Wheel

R-Steering with ACC Controls

Upon activation, the MFD changes to ACC mode and shows the Lane Assist ( works in conjunction ). If there is a vehicle in front, it would display a model of a vehicle on the MFD.

Vehicle is stopped at a pre-selected distance.

We can select the distance to follow via the steering or Discovery Pro HU. Using the steering buttons on the left, it is easier done on the go.

Vehicle stops at a pre-selected distance.

When the vehicle in front moves on, we press the RES button on the steering for the vehicle to follow suit. Best of all, there is the City Emergency Brake. This function as a radar to track the vehicle in front. Once it slows down suddenly, the vehicle's brake would automatically be applied to slow down the vehicle in time to prevent an accident. The manual says that...."brakes would be applied to reduce the damages in event of a frontal accident". End of the day, this is one of the best features on the Golf 7 that I am enjoying ! The only Golf 7 in Singapore and Malaysia or even Asia to have this feature.....I think ? What my customers say !